Connect to the Controller

KAS provides all the commands for controlling the target in the Device toolbar:

Figure 5-55: The Device Toolbar

Icon	Description
	Show the controller communication properties dialog (PLC"Programmable Logic Controller" A Programmable Logic Controller, PLC, or Programmable Controller is a digital computer used for automation of industrial processes, such as control of machinery on factory assembly lines. Used to synchronize the flow of inputs from (physical) sensors and events with the flow of outputs to actuators and events options) (see details below)
	Change the controller IP address to connect with KAS Simulator. In this simulated mode, the controller properties change as shown below and the Controller Type includes the IP address 127.0.0.1. For more details, refer to Using the KAS Simulator
	Compile project
	Compile and download the project. This downloads the application and Project Source files.
	Establish connection with the target controller (see possible statuses here)
	Close connection with the target controller
	Download the application to the targeted controller (note that the application must not be running). For more details, refer to Download the Application
	Start the application. It can be either: Warm Start (default mode): Retain Variables are loaded at the application startup. They are Not re-initialized; whereas other variables are started with their initial values. Cold Start: use retain variables with their default values. Such starts occurs from time to time but are few. To choose a Cold Start, you have to drop-down the Start button as follows:
	Stop the application

• 
  

• If the previous download failed (due to events such as the EthernetEthernet is a large, diverse family of frame-based computer networking technologies that operate at many speeds for local area networks (LANs) being disconnected or the controller being turned off), you will not be able start your application. Additionally: 

  • no version information is shown in the web server or status bar
  • the Start, Cold Start and Download buttons are not available on the web server
  • if the AKD PDMM or PCMM tries to auto-start, an E24 error is flashed on the 7-segment display.

  Review the Controller logs for more information.

Ensure the Simulated device mode is active (the icon must be selected)

To establish the connection with the target controller, click the Connect Device icon .

• 
  

• You need to configure the device before connecting (see Configure the Controller)

Actions to Prevent Compatibility Issues

The software versions of the KAS IDE"Integrated development environment" An integrated development environment is a type of computer software that assists computer programmers in developing software. IDEs normally consist of a source code editor, a compiler and/or interpreter, build-automation tools, and a debugger and the KAS RuntimeIn computer science, runtime (or run-time) describes the operation of a computer program, the duration of its execution, from beginning to termination (compare compile time). Within KAS, runtime also refers to the virtual machine that manage the program written in a computer language while it is running have to match to avoid compatibility problems.

See KAS IDE to Runtime Compatibility for more information.

• 
  

• The software versions of the KAS IDE and the KAS Runtime are also available in the local log messages (the level for this message is INFO).

When another KAS IDE is already connected to the controller, a warning is displayed and the connection is discarded to prevent any conflict.

Application Status Bar

The status bar provides global information about the target and the name of the running application currently stored in the device.
Text displayed with orange background means that the version of the application is different between the KAS IDE and the target.

For more details, The following table summarizes all cases for the labels of the status bar.

Message Window

Every log message has the following information:

• TimestampA timestamp is a sequence of characters, denoting the date and/or time at which a certain event occurred
• ID
• Message

• 
  

• Once connected to the device, it is no longer possible to edit the PLC programs, unless Online Change is active (see Compile the Application)

• 
  

• Depending on the number of AKD drives physically present in the EtherCATEtherCAT is an open, high-performance Ethernet-based fieldbus system. The development goal of EtherCAT was to apply Ethernet to automation applications which require short data update times (also called cycle times) with low communication jitter (for synchronization purposes) and low hardware costs network, the KAS IDE might slow down when getting data.
  The KAS Runtime is not concerned with this limitation.